


Slipping through my fingers like rain

by masterlokisev159



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Hopeful Ending, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Abuse, M/M, Pining, Post-Break Up, Protective Steve Rogers, They still love each other, Tony Stark Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:14:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29279010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/masterlokisev159/pseuds/masterlokisev159
Summary: Lost in the cold and rain, Tony wonders if things would've been better if he'd never left Steve.Maybe he wouldn't be with Ty. Maybe Ty wouldn't have just left him in the middle of no-where.It's cold. He wants to go home. He's so tired.There's a gas station up ahead. Maybe he can find shelter there?
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Tiberius Stone
Comments: 28
Kudos: 334
Collections: POTS (18+) Stony Stocking 2020





	Slipping through my fingers like rain

**Author's Note:**

  * For [semioticdaydream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semioticdaydream/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [semioticdaydream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/semioticdaydream/pseuds/semioticdaydream) in the [stony_stocking_2020](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/stony_stocking_2020) collection. 



> Prompt: Tony knows it’s a bad idea to offer to give Steve a ride home. They’re exes, after all - the type of crash-and-burn, let-your-heart-bleed-out sort of exes. The kind of ex that Tony knows he can’t say ‘no’ to. So what happens when Steve is stuck somewhere without a way to leave and Tony finds himself offering to take him home? (POV/characters can be swapped, take this rough idea and do what you like with it!)
> 
> A huge thank you to semioticdaydream for this lovely prompt! I did play around with it a little and switch it around so I hope it's okay :) I really enjoyed writing it!

It was cold. Really cold. He should’ve brought a jumper or something at least to fend off the wind and rain.

It was dark outside. There didn’t seem to be lights anywhere, which made sense since he was miles from the nearest town.

Still, he kept walking. He couldn’t stop.

He hadn’t expected Ty to leave him like that. Maybe if he hadn’t, Tony wouldn’t have gotten mugged or threatened by some petty group of thieves. What had started off as a nice date and drive back had ended in a nasty fight that had revolved around Tony’s ex.

He hadn’t spoken to Steve in months. Maybe that was for the best.

 _It’s cold._ Tony coughed and pressed his arms close around his chest. _I need to get home._

Hopeful, he kept going forward, wondering if maybe Ty wasn’t the right guy for him after all. Surely your boyfriend wasn’t supposed to just leave you on the side of some dirt road in the middle of nowhere just because you refused to show him your messages. 

He should’ve just shown Ty the messages. It wasn’t like he had anything to hide.

Still, for the sake of his principles he ran the risk of freezing to death. Not a great way to go. Here lies Tony Stark who lived a great life as head of Stark Industries but unfortunately didn’t make it back in time. The cold got him first.

He’d been out here for over an hour and the rain was starting to pick up. The roads were just getting darker and having had his keys, wallet and phone stolen, Tony didn’t want to think about his odds.

In the distance, a faint light flickered and he wondered if maybe that was his chance. It looked like the old sign of some gas station but maybe someone there would let him make a call. If he could just borrow someone’s phone-

But who would he call? Rhodey who was out of town? Pepper who was busy running a company and on a business trip?

He’d probably have to call Ty. He tried not to feel too deflated at the thought. 

Silently he kept going, dragging his tired feet and aching limbs towards the neon light. There was no noise but the faint rustle of trees on either side of him and the gentle patter of rain. He was completely soaked from head to toe in just his jeans and T-shirt.

But he was close. The place turned out to be an empty gas station with some middle-aged man sleeping by the front desk in the shop. 

Tony sighed and walked up to the window. Slowly he inched forward and tapped on the glass window. The guy barely stirred.

“Excuse me? Hello? Can you please open up? It’s freezing out here!” Tony pleaded but the guy just cracked open an eye, grunted and turned over in his seat.

“Get lost, freeloader.”

“C’mon please!” Tony begged, feeling close to a nervous breakdown. “It’s freezing! I just need to borrow a phone-“

“Hit the road!” 

For ten minutes, Tony pleaded and did everything to get the guy to at least talk to him or hear him out. Eventually the guy just shut the blinder on him and switched off the light. Everything went pitch black except for the neon sign.

Tony wanted to cry. How the hell was he gonna get home?

All of a sudden, he heard a faint noise. The sound of a truck travelling down the road and signalling to turn into the gas station. Feeling a glimmer of hope, Tony turned and glanced up at the truck driver.

The truck parked up and soon enough the door swung open. Out stepped a large man with multiple tattoos and piercings and a large smirk on his face. The air around him stank of tobacco and Tony nearly threw up from the stench. God.

“Hey there punk. What’re you doing out here all alone, huh?”

“Waiting for my ride.” Tony decided on, gritting his teeth as he inched back a step. The guy was clearly trouble. Tony didn’t want to spend another second near him. 

“Is that so? Well, why don’t you stay with me in the truck there? It’ll keep you nice and warm while we wait? How does that sound sweetheart?”

“No thanks. I’ll wait here.”

The smirk slid off the man’s face and he started to step closer into Tony’s space.

Tony felt his heart begin to race. All thoughts started to move in rapid fire.

_Oh god, what now?_

_How do I get out of this?_

_Is he going to kidnap me?_

“C’mon sweetheart.” The guy purred but there was an ugly gleam in his eye. “Be good and get in the truck.”

“Hey!” A voice made them both jolt and Tony turned instantly to see who’d spoken. And what he saw shocked him and nearly made him collapse with relief.

It was a cop. Off-duty, but Tony could see his belt with weapons. A tall, really well-built cop with a gun and weapons and-

_Oh. Oh my god._

“Step away from him.” Steve, _his_ _ex-boyfriend_ , glared and approached them both, taking Tony by the wrist and pulling him back before he could even protest.

Still, it was enough for him to move.

“What’re you, a cop?”

“As a matter of fact, yes.” Steve smiled tightly and reached for his belt where his gun lay. “Now are you gonna do as you’re told or are we gonna have a problem?”

The truck-driver didn’t argue after that. Like a dog with his tail between his legs, the guy scuttled away like the creature he was.

That just left him and Steve.

“Are you alright, sir?” Steve asked quietly and turned to him, only to open his mouth and stare at Tony in horror. His whole body froze when he scanned Tony up and down.

“Oh my god. Tony!?” Steve said with such disbelief that Tony really couldn’t help it. He started to sob.

“Oh, oh-hey, no, you’re alright.” Steve instantly dropped his tone and reached out, pulling him close and wrapping his arms around him firmly and Tony struggled to suppress his shakes. The warmth from Steve’s body was searing.

“You’re alright.” Steve repeated and after a few moments, slowly eased Tony back to look him over. Steve genuinely looked like he’d seen a ghost, and wasn’t that something? “What are you even _doing_ here?”

“My...” God, did he really want to discuss his new boyfriend with his old one? Hadn’t that caused him to be stuck in this situation in the first place?

“My boyfriend.” Tony sighed and scrubbed at his eyes tiredly, swiping away the rain and anything else he didn't want to think about. At least the rain was easing up a little. “He, ah. He left me here.”

Steve blinked for a moment. Then he frowned. “Your boyfriend? Your boyfriend left you here?”

“Y-yeah.”

“What, he just... _abandoned you?_ ” Steve blanched and Tony sighed and looked away, feeling lower than dirt.

“I know, it’s pretty sad right?”

“Sad? Tony, I wouldn’t quite describe this as sad. This is...” Steve shook his head and began to pull off his leather jacket, the same one Steve had worn while they were dating. Steve took it off and wrapped it around him gently, guiding his arms into the sleeves and zipping up once he was done. It wasn’t the best for warmth but to Tony it felt like the exact thing he needed right now. 

It smelled like Steve. Like safety and warmth and _home._

Regret coursed through him. As it always did when he remembered what he'd lost.

“I’m taking you home.” Steve said suddenly and stared him down like he was rearing to shut down any protest. 

For once Tony said nothing. He just stared right back, resigned to agree to anything.

“God, you’re really not okay are you?” Steve whispered then, looking absolutely distraught and without further thought, wrapped an arm around Tony and began to guide him away from the station, taking him further down the road until Tony spotted a car parked just up ahead.

“I’ll take you to my place. You can warm up there and recover while I sort things out. You said your boyfriend just left you here?”

“Yeah. He doesn’t like that I have other interests.”

Steve paused and looked at him. “What do you mean?”

Tony didn’t answer. He just stared tiredly ahead, feeling so exhausted he could sleep for days. 

“Tony?”

“It’s you alright.” Tony admitted tiredly, facing the ground. “He thinks I never got over you.”

He felt Steve stiffen beside him. That was fair. He deserved it.

“Why does he think that?” Steve asked carefully and somehow they’d reached the car and Steve was opening the door and guiding him into the passenger seat. Once he was settled, Steve came around to the driver seat and sat down, slamming the door shut and cranking the heating right up. Heat started to flood the car like a sauna.

“He says I talk about you too much. Or something. I don’t know.” Tony shrugged and with a sigh, tilted his head back and closed his eyes. The world felt distant and he was happy to stay here and pretend just for five minutes that Steve was still his. That this was just a romantic night out that had ended in them being caught in the rain. Instead, he was debating whether it was better to use his situation to escape from Ty and run away or use it to seal the nail in the wall and say goodbye to the man he actually loved.

He knew what he needed to do. It was just hard.

“If I could borrow your phone and call Ty to see if he could-“

“You’re not going anywhere near him.” Steve cut him off sharply and started the engine. “Not in this state. Hell, I’m worried you’ll catch a cold and get sick the way you’re going. You need a bed and sleep. I’m taking you home.”

“Which home?” Tony murmured quietly, cracking his eyes open as he sighed. He looked out of the window, watching the neon light of the gas station sweep by. Ty was probably gonna scream at him once he got back. Maybe dump him somewhere else.

“Home. As in my place.” Steve said through grit teeth and when Tony looked at him in surprise, he noted the white-knuckled grip Steve had on the steering wheel. 

Something began to poke in the back of Tony’s mind. Something important.

“Steve.” Tony croaked and coughed a little, watching Steve’s eyes narrow. “About us-“

“When we’re home Tony.”

“I’m sorry.” Tony whispered and bit his lip hard enough to split it. The harsh taste of copper and iron was enough to keep him awake. “I’m sorry I left you. I’m sorry I hurt you-“

“Don’t-“

“It’s okay though.” Tony smiled dully and faced forward. “I got what I deserved.”

“Tony.” Steve said, sounding almost like he was in pain. “What else has your boyfriend done?”

_Nothing. And everything._

“I miss you.” Tony said softly instead and looked away. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You...you too Tony.” Steve sighed. Then, without taking his eyes away from the road, he reached out and covered Tony’s icy hands with his own.

“Sleep. We’ll talk about this when we get home. I promise. And I mean we'll talk about us too. I think there's a lot we need to say. ”

It sounded nice. Tony wondered if maybe his dreams would be kinder tonight.

Being with Steve...there was nothing he wanted more.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Please do let me know what you think! I might add more to this if anyone’s interested at all!
> 
> Take care and stay safe!


End file.
